William New

William New

Special Feature: 5G And Standard Essential Patents In The US

NEW YORK -- A panel at the recent IP Dealmakers Forum including a US Federal Trade Commission official, a former US judge on a key patent case, and a telecommunications industry licensing expert walked through issues and prospects for the coming of the 5G next generation wireless technology. Views differed on points but panellists agreed that changes are needed to the system for standard-essential patents, including a bigger role for standard-setting organisations. Below is an in-depth account of the discussion. The discussion also included the latest state-of-play at the FTC, which currently has its lowest number of commissioners ever.

WTO General Council Agrees To 2-Year Extension For TRIPS Health Amendment Acceptance

The World Trade Organization General Council today agreed to a two-year extension for countries to adopt an amendment to the agency's intellectual property agreement intended to help small economies get affordable medical products. But a decision on non-violation complaints will be left to the December WTO ministerial in Buenos Aires.

USPTO Director Nominee And IP “Evangelist” Iancu Could Get Committee Approval By January

President Trump's nominee to be the next director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Andrei Iancu, could receive Senate committee approval by the holidays if things line up just right. If appointed, he told a nomination hearing today that he would "evangelize" the IP system and make possible reform of the patent review process a high priority.

UN General Assembly Committee Adopts Resolution On SciTech For Development With Nod To IP Rights

A committee of the United Nations General Assembly this week adopted a resolution highlighting the importance of - and setting out member state tasks for - growing science and technology, including expansion of intellectual property rights and innovation tailored to countries' development strategies.

WHO Issues Two Reports Detailing Global Problem Of Substandard And Falsified Medicines

The World Health Organization today issued two substantive reports on the problem of substandard and falsified medicines around the world, finding among other things that an estimated one in 10 medical products in low and middle income countries is either substandard or falsified.

INTA Paper On Brexit Calls For Minimal Disruption, Strong IP Protection

The International Trademark Association (INTA) today issued a position paper calling for "minimal disruption" and strong intellectual property rights protection as the negotiations proceed on the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union, known as Brexit. The paper lists core principles and specific recommendations related to IP for both the UK and the EU.

Industry Urges UK, EU, To Safeguard Medicines Regulation During Post-Brexit Transition

Associations representing the life sciences industry in the United Kingdom and Europe today issued a call for cooperation on regulation between the UK and European Union on medicines regulation.

International Court Of Justice Judges Getting Pulled Into Investor-State Cases

According to a study by a watchdog group released this week, numerous judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) have worked or are working on at least 90 investor-state dispute settlement cases, despite a prohibition on them doing work…

WTO Dispute Panel Set For Qatar IP Case; Appellate Body Appointments Still Stuck

A World Trade Organization dispute settlement panel today was established on request of Qatar, which is challenging measures by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) taken in the name of anti-terrorism but which Qatar says unfairly violate its intellectual property rights and other WTO rules. Separately, also at today's WTO Dispute Settlement Body meeting, members continued to be at odds over a closely watched disagreement on appointing new Appellate Body members.